Living near the mountains and at a high elevation in Flagstaff has its benefits. One of them is the opportunity to capture amazing images of the San Francisco Peaks as the seasons and weather change.
Recent snowfalls provided two very different views of the Peaks. First we have the peaks obscured by clouds. A laminar wave cloud floats above the peaks while other clouds cloak the summits. Skiers and hikers at the top of the mountain are hidden in the clouds and fog only to drop out of the bottom of the cloud as they descend.
Wave clouds above the San Francisco Peaks.
Another image captures the final moments of sunset as the snow turns red across the peaks. These colors might only last for a minute or two before quickly fading away.
Sunset colors on the San Francisco Peaks.
The price we pay for these incredible views? Long winters, cold temperatures, and roads that don’t seem to get plowed quickly enough — or at all.
With the winter holidays presenting a few days off from work we decided to do a bit of close-to-home travel. Our destination was Page, Arizona, and from there we could visit some photographically-interesting sites as well as do some canyon hiking.
Located between Page, Arizona, and Kanab, Utah, it is easy to miss as there is only a small roadside sign and dirt parking lot as you travel on US Route 89. The trail is a short and easy hike of less than a mile.
Rimrock Hoodoos (“Toadstools”) in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
From the interpretive sign at the start of the trail: “What is a Toadstool? A toadstool is a spire-like feature with a boulder perched atop a pedestal rock, like a mushroom, or ‘toadstool’. It forms when softer rock erodes away, leaving a column sheltered from the wind and water.”
Such a mundane description for what are amazing pieces of natural rock art.
Rimrock Hoodoos (“Toadstools”) in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
With afternoon light beginning to fade the colors were amazing. The downside was that it’s late December and even in the desert southwest it can get pretty chilly in the late afternoon. Finally, the sun set and the sky darkened ending an enjoyable afternoon of exploration and photography.
Late afternoon lighting across the Toadstools region.
We’ve been here a few times over the years but never get tired of viewing the fantastic sculpturing of the soft sandstone within the confines of this slot canyon.
Lower Antelope Canyon, Navajo Nation Parks, near Page, Arizona.
There are two distinct areas to visit: Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon. The upper canyon is much easier to walk as it has a smooth and generally flat sandy floor and is wide enough for people to move around. It is the recommended choice for those with limited hiking abilities or those that are uncomfortable in confined spaces. Lower Antelope Canyon requires moving through exceptionally narrow confines and climbing up and down steep ladders.
Snow melt pattern around a boulder in Catstair Canyon, Utah.
Lastly, we traveled back west towards Houserock Valley and did a short hike in Catstair Canyon. If you look carefully you will find some ancient petroglyphs on the sandstone walls of this short canyon. Far more interesting to us, however, was the snow melt pattern around this volleyball-sized boulder.
Winter has settled in across northern Arizona with snow covering the ground and ice in the canyons. This is a beautiful time of the year for photography if you do not mind being cold while finding that special location.
Bare trees…rock walls…and ice covered streams in West Fork Oak Creek.
We hiked up the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon on a well-traveled but snow-packed and icy trail. Some sort of boot traction (e.g., YakTrax, Kahtoola) would have been useful but with care and an easy pace we were able to move about without any difficulties. The water level in the creek was about normal making for fairly easy stream crossings. And there are quite a few.
Reflections of canyon walls in West Fork Oak Creek.
The afternoon sun bouncing off the high canyon walls and then reflected in the water created the right setup for photographs and all that was needed was some interesting ice to complement the scene. We found plenty.
Canyon wall reflections and delicate ice in West Fork Oak Creek.
This is a moderately high-walled canyon and very little direct sun shines down on the canyon floor so that it remains quite chilly even in the afternoon. As long as we kept moving we stayed warm. Stop to take a picture — and get cold.
Deep shadows in the narrows of West Fork Oak Creek.
Slide Rock State Park is a great place to visit. The water from Oak Creek becomes channeled as it flows through multiple layers of sandstone resulting in some deep and narrow pools of water. On a hot summer day the area is filled with people swimming and having a grand time.
If you arrive here early in the morning you can catch some beautiful light reflecting off the high sandstone cliffs onto the water below.
Water cascades through the sandstone, snow, and ice in Slide Rock State Park.
Earlier this year I had an opportunity to take part in a photo workshop at this location. After that summer workshop I was determined to return in the winter and capture some images with snow on the sandstone. Snow isn’t rare in this location — it’s at an elevation of around 5000 feet, after all. But snow doesn’t last long at these elevations in Arizona, either.
Slide Rock State Park with layers of ice, snow, and sandstone.
A recent series of snow storms put snow on the ground at elevations even lower than Slide Rock so this was a great opportunity. I left Flagstaff before sunrise and the temperature was a very cold 0°F at an elevation of 7000 feet. By the time I had descended down Oak Creek Canyon to 5000 feet the temperature had warmed to a balmier 19°F. To make it even more uncomfortable, there was a down-canyon wind blowing to bring on some wind chill.
Still, I was determined to try.
Slide Rock State Park, Oak Creek Canyon.
The lighting was very challenging as the upper canyon walls began to light up with the rising sun. The normally red rocks were brilliant with snow and it was all too easy to overexpose the upper portions of the canyon walls while being underexposed within the Slide Rock area.
Rather than try to capture “everything” it was more reasonable to focus on the water, rocks and snow that were all still in the deep shadows of the canyon.
A delicate cascade of water produces icicles on the leaves and branches.
As the sun rose higher and the shadows disappeared other photographers arrived. Perhaps they knew better than I that the best light was after the sun was higher in the sky. Or, perhaps just as likely, they weren’t willing to photograph in well below freezing temperatures. Either way, I had the area to myself for over an hour of shooting and I had a great time.
It’s been an interesting spring as the La Niña conditions of this past winter continue to abate. One of the characteristics of this diminishing pattern has been for low pressure systems to drop southeastward from the eastern Pacific and west coast and then across the southwestern states. Springtime low pressure systems routinely move across the southwest and bring strong winds to Arizona and these systems have been quite normal in that respect, that is, it’s been very windy.
But they have also brought the core of the low pressure system farther south than is typical and across Arizona. The result has been a combination of below normal temperatures and above normal rain along with snow in the higher elevations.
We had three days of snow last week — but only trace amounts fell across the area — and now we are having a real bona fide snow event. A few inches of snow have accumulated at elevations above 7000 feet.
Snowy scene in northern Arizona – in mid May.
Will this be the final event of this winter-like spring? Or will we see snow again? The record books show that snow isn’t rare in May at these elevations — and snow in June has happened on a number of occasions, too.
We’re all looking forward to spring finally arriving before the calendar says summer.
